--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The translucence that comes when life…" description: "\"The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/020/sue-monk-kidd-404_beads_the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-ha_32751.png" --- # The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead… ![“The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life as it truly is, enormous, appalling, devastating. You see the great sinkholes it makes in people and the harrowing lengths to which love will go to…” quote by Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/020/sue-monk-kidd-404_beads_the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-ha_32751.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/020/sue-monk-kidd-404_beads_the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-ha_32751.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/020/sue-monk-kidd-404_beads_the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-ha_32751.png) > “The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life as it truly is, enormous, appalling, devastating. You see the great sinkholes it makes in people and the harrowing lengths to which love will go to fill them.” [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A stark realization that hardship reveals life's harsh truths, exposing both its vastness and the deep voids it creates in people, which love strives to fill. **In simple terms:** Hardship exposes life's brutal reality. Key Takeaway Love attempts to mend existential emptiness. Themes existentialism love suffering truth human condition Mood somber reflective intense Type philosophical poetic literary When to use this quote - personal crisis - grief - relationship strain - career setback - health challenge Key Concepts hardship clarity void redemption Practical Applications - therapy counseling - literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does adversity shape our perception of love? - What does it mean to confront life's 'cruel perfection'? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Sinkholes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinkholes/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think there is any end to translucence. It's an endless journey, rather like playing the violin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjuna-ardagh/i-don-t-think-there-is-any-end-to-translucence-it-s-an-endless/) [Arjuna Ardagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjuna-ardagh/) > [When all things are equal, translucence in writing is more effective than transparency, just as glow is more revealing than glare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/when-all-things-are-equal-translucence-in-writing-is-more-effective/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [“According to your sources if you strike life with the radical when it cracks the inside's going to glow with the translucence of red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-lamothe/according-to-your-sources-if-you-strike-life-with-the-radical-when-it/) Lori Lamothe > [And Vishous. . . V was the worst of them. He stood by the door, staring into space. Icy before, he was glacial now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/and-vishous-v-was-the-worst-of-them-he-stood-by-the-door-staring-into/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [“I was raised in the desert and always appreciated the way its landscape gives you a chance to see what's coming. In Florida, dangers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-raised-in-the-desert-and-always-appreciated-the-way-its/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [“My fingers curl through the holes in the wicker, through the wet grass beneath it, trying to hold tight to the sharp blades of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/my-fingers-curl-through-the-holes-in-the-wicker-through-the-wet-grass/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Disappointment Can do a couple things. It can drop you into a giant sucking sinkhole of depression, a place you have to fight to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/disappointment-can-do-a-couple-things-it-can-drop-you-into-a-giant/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [Self-pity is... a sinkhole from which no rescuing hand can drag you because you have chosen to sink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/self-pity-is-a-sinkhole-from-which-no-rescuing-hand-can-drag-you/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [...our eyes locked in one of those looks that sometimes happen between strangers, when both wordlessly agree that reality contains sinkholes whose depths neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/our-eyes-locked-in-one-of-those-looks-that-sometimes-happen-between/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I slithered out of the sinkhole on my stomach. It was not the sexiest move I'd ever performed, but I was impressed nonetheless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/i-slithered-out-of-the-sinkhole-on-my-stomach-it-was-not-the-sexiest/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [ \[Vestiges begins\] from principles which are at variance with all sober inductive truth. The sober facts of geology shuffled, so as to play a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-sedgwick/vestiges-begins-from-principles-which-are-at-variance-with-all-sober/) [Adam Sedgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-sedgwick/) > [I fell headfirst into a sinkhole of pretty things, and the world inside your eyelids is just as big as the one outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenna-yovanoff/i-fell-headfirst-into-a-sinkhole-of-pretty-things-and-the-world/) [Brenna Yovanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenna-yovanoff/) > [Am I more afraid Of taking a chance and learning I'm somebody I don't know, or of risking new territory, only to find I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/am-i-more-afraid-of-taking-a-chance-and-learning-i-m-somebody-i-don-t/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [“Suddenly life seemed beautiful, as though anything was possible with the right frame of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riley-j-ford/suddenly-life-seemed-beautiful-as-though-anything-was-possible-with/) Riley J. Ford > [“After an Indian meal they went back to Jamie's flat and Tony did at least two things to him on the sofa that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/after-an-indian-meal-they-went-back-to-jamie-s-flat-and-tony-did-at/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) ## More by Sue Monk Kidd > [“But benevolent patriarchy is still patriarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-benevolent-patriarchy-is-still-patriarchy/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“It's part of our overall Body Negation Program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/it-s-part-of-our-overall-body-negation-program/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“That was the thing mauma and I loved, our time with the quilts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/that-was-the-thing-mauma-and-i-loved-our-time-with-the-quilts/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [In recent years my understanding of God had evolved into increasingly remote abstractions. I'd come to think of God in terms like Divine Reality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/in-recent-years-my-understanding-of-god-had-evolved-into-increasingly/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The mermaids came to me finally, in the pink hours of my life. They are my consolation. For them I dove with arms outstretched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-mermaids-came-to-me-finally-in-the-pink-hours-of-my-life-they-are/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The bag contained a pair of white cotton gloves stained the color of age.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-bag-contained-a-pair-of-white-cotton-gloves-stained-the-color-of/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [I eventually found that the soul is more than an immortal commodity to win and save. It is the repository of the inner divine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-eventually-found-that-the-soul-is-more-than-an-immortal-commodity/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Readiness for dying arrives by attending the smallest moment and finding the eternal inside of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/readiness-for-dying-arrives-by-attending-the-smallest-moment-and/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“I sat at her desk and turned one page after another, staring at what looked like bits and pieces of black lace laid cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-sat-at-her-desk-and-turned-one-page-after-another-staring-at-what/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“There's no pain on earth that doesn't require a benevolent witness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/there-s-no-pain-on-earth-that-doesn-t-require-a-benevolent-witness/) [sue monk kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“afflicted with the worst female curse on earth, the need to mold myself to expectations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/afflicted-with-the-worst-female-curse-on-earth-the-need-to-mold/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Her forbidden bath all those months ago still hung leaden between us, though Handful didn't seem the least bit ashamed by my discovery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/her-forbidden-bath-all-those-months-ago-still-hung-leaden-between-us/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Why should God’s perfection be based on having an unchanging nature?” I asked. “Isn’t flexibility more perfect than stasis?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/why-should-god-s-perfection-be-based-on-having-an-unchanging-nature-i/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“There are things without explanation, moments when life will become arranged in such odd ways that you imagine a whole vocabulary of meaning inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/there-are-things-without-explanation-moments-when-life-will-become/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Explore all 584 Sue Monk Kidd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## More Beads quotes > [slowly the pale dew-beads of light lapped up from flowers can thicken, darken to gold: honey of the human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/slowly-the-pale-dew-beads-of-light-lapped-up-from-flowers-can-thicken/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [You think you know yourself, the world. You believe you've got a bead on everybody else's bullshit, but what about your own?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-lipsyte/you-think-you-know-yourself-the-world-you-believe-you-ve-got-a-bead/) [Sam Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-lipsyte/) > [I think all writers are always collecting characters as we go along. Not just characters of course, we're collecting EVERYTHING. Bits and pieces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-sokoloff/i-think-all-writers-are-always-collecting-characters-as-we-go-along/) Alexandra Sokoloff > [Deciding to chant the mantra a certain number of times daily will help foster the japa habit. We should always keep a rosary with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/deciding-to-chant-the-mantra-a-certain-number-of-times-daily-will/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [Then, when people saw you strolling around at high noon holding your rosary beads, they’d think, ‘Well, that can’t be a vampire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/then-when-people-saw-you-strolling-around-at-high-noon-holding-your/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [We must always remember that God is Love. "A fool indeed is he who, living on the banks of the Ganga, seeks to dig…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-must-always-remember-that-god-is-love-a-fool-indeed-is-he-who/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Every time some new huckster of angst-ridden metaphor is appointed by Art Forum, the congregation genuflects, stroking the catalog like a handful of Rosary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abe-ajay/every-time-some-new-huckster-of-angst-ridden-metaphor-is-appointed-by/) [Abe Ajay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abe-ajay/) > [You know, if I cleaned out my backpack, which I don't really use anymore, I'd find a bunch of beads. I have a bunch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-connaughton/you-know-if-i-cleaned-out-my-backpack-which-i-don-t-really-use/) [Pat Connaughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-connaughton/) > [SHE is neither pink nor pale, And she never will be all mine; She learned her hands in a fairy-tale, And her mouth on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/she-is-neither-pink-nor-pale-and-she-never-will-be-all-mine-she/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Reading a text is more like tracing this process of constant flickering than it is like counting the beads on a necklace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-a-text-is-more-like-tracing-this-process-of-constant/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Loyalty to God is alone fundamental. Feelings, words, deeds, must be beads strung on the string of duty. Let the world tell you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maltbie-davenport-babcock/loyalty-to-god-is-alone-fundamental-feelings-words-deeds-must-be/) [Maltbie Davenport Babcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maltbie-davenport-babcock/) > [closed my eyes and listened. It was like music I'd heard all my life, even more than "This Lullaby." All those keystrokes, all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/closed-my-eyes-and-listened-it-was-like-music-i-d-heard-all-my-life/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [A very special case. A few years more, and that pretty creature who you love too much, I think, will, without ever loving them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/a-very-special-case-a-few-years-more-and-that-pretty-creature-who-you/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [Friendship, awareness, happiness, all of the arts of the good life, are brilliant beads strung on the golden cord of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/friendship-awareness-happiness-all-of-the-arts-of-the-good-life-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How guilt refined the methods of self-torture, threading the beads of detail into an eternal loop, a rosary to be fingered for a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/how-guilt-refined-the-methods-of-self-torture-threading-the-beads-of/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) Browse all 169 Beads quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. 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